Main menu

Tag Archives: sun daily mirror

Post navigation

Call it regulations if you will, I say it’s the end of a free press. The British 4th estate as we know, love and loath it may be ending with this farce of an inquiry (The Leveson inquiry into the culture and ethics of the British press) Not since the Watergate scandal has the free press been under such scrutiny. Common sense must prevail or the press as we know it will die and instead of journalism we’ll be left with PR robots that toe the party line and are afraid to break eggs.

Ok, so let me sum up what this inquiry is really about, if its not just here to make the Murdoch’s life uncomfortable. I think we can all safely say that the red tops in this country (NOTW, The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily star) have behaved in immoral ways for decades. Until a few stories came out with the celebrities involved not knowing how the information had leaked. Oh the Horror.

Sienna Miller I’m afraid to say I don’t have much sympathy for, the same goes to Max Clifford, Andy Grey, Jude Law, Hugh Grant and all the other fame hungry celebs that seem to think they can become public property with no consequence. They all got substantial pay offs from the NOTW.

I do on the other hand feel some sympathy for the former Royal editor of NOTW Clive Goodman, who was the initial scapegoat to save the skins of Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks both former NOTW editors. January 26th 2007 Clive Goodman and Private Investigator Glenn Mulcaire were both jailed for illegally accessing the Royal phone messages. Andy Coulson subsequently resigned from his post as editor of NOTW only to become David Cameron’s media advisor for the Conservative party. Clearly it’s not what you know but whom.

Rebekah Brooks whom I admire somewhat, revealed back in 2003 to a Commons Committee that the paper (NOTW) had regularly paid the police for information. Coulson sitting next to her at the time tried to rebuff what she had said but the damage was done. I often wonder why an inquiry wasn’t started at this time, as this worry’s me more than getting frivolous gossip from a celeb’s mobile.

So the shredding begins, the News of the World is closed down, lots of good journalists lose their jobs while Rupert, his son, Mr. Coulson (Dave’s mate) and Rebekah Brooks (again Dave’s mate LOL) remain in uncomfortable coziness shall we say?

This is where the Leveson Inquiry loses me. From the outside looking in I see a national newspaper proprietor and editors clearly breaking the law. So as a straight thinking person I’m of the opinion that these offenders should be brought before a court of law for justice and not an inquiry in to the ethics of the media. If we have laws in place to dissuade the media from using immoral tactics then why not just use them.